


Revelations

by himawaridreams



Category: fault (Visual Novels)
Genre: A bit of meddling on Selphine's part, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Holding Hands, Pining, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-11 11:14:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10463607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/himawaridreams/pseuds/himawaridreams
Summary: There's a curious feeling that Rune just can't seem to understand.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! This was originally supposed to be for a drabble prompt I saw on Tumblr which was "You make me feel invincible," but it pretty much spiraled out of control into a full-length fic. I guess that's just what the rutona ship does to me loool. 
> 
> Anyways, without further ado, please enjoy! :^)

Rune cast a weary glance over her shoulder, straining to see the other end of the battlefield where Ritona was making quick work of her opponents: an inexperienced band of soldiers scrambling to match her unparalleled expertise with battlekravte. She disabled them one after the other, deftly handling her transidian sword like one would seamlessly sew and loop an elaborate pattern into a piece of fabric. Her movements were absolutely mesmerizing-- if Rune had not been in the heat of a scuffle right now, she would have been completely taken off guard by how breathtakingly beautiful Ritona looked as she fought.

However, that fanciful line of thought was to be saved for another time, since like she just stated earlier, there was no room for having flights of infatuated daydreams in combat. Raising her arm to block an attack from an incoming enemy, Rune almost felt a sense of pity at how easily she dealt with the riff-raff. Because of her capabilities to increase the frame rates of the cameras within her eyes, this ill-prepared foe stood no chance against her.

Letting out a frightened yelp, the soldier gawked at Rune with a fear of the unknown, mind not fully comprehending what had just occurred. Had he truly been defeated so humiliatingly, or were his eyes deceiving him when this seemingly-frail girl responded to his attack faster than the eyes could see?

Taking this moment of the soldier's bafflement as an opportunity to disarm him, Rune grabbed his arm roughly, twisting it harshly and loosening his ironclad grip on his weapon. As the sword tumbled unceremoniously to the ground, Rune swiftly caught it and drove it deep into the soil with her brutish strength.

Once it was buried securely where he couldn't reach it, she shoved the cowering man to the ground. This was all it took for the whimpering soldier to abandon his allies, as he inched back from Rune and then decided to scamper away altogether.

Dusting off her hands quickly, she remained on high alert for any other opposing forces, but it was becoming evident they were all too fearful of her to approach. It seemed all it took was a single display of inhuman power and lightning-fast speed for them to tuck their tails between their legs.

Figuring this was a perfect chance to assist Ritona in guarding Selphine, Rune hurried over in an attempt to bulk up their defenses.

"Ritona! Selly! How are you holding up over there?" Rune called out, making sure her voice projected properly so they could hear her.

The clamor of mana-woven weapons clashing together drowned out her voice despite her best efforts however, and Ritona was still caught in the midst of an intense duel. During dealing with all of the insignificant subordinates, it seemed the leader of the pack had finally emerged; he was a staunch fellow with broad shoulders and a toned build. If Ritona were not as proficient in manakravte as she was, perhaps she would be overpowered.

That, however, was obviously not the case.

Smoothly transitioning her blade from one gloved hand to the other, she narrowed her magenta eyes at her opponent, scanning for any perceivable weak spots in his stance. Then as he aimed to take a swing at her again, she cleanly dodged it and struck a sharp elbow to his solar plexus while he was disoriented.

"Urgh!" the leader groaned, fumbling for breath and doubling over in immense pain.

While the adversary was still on the mend, Ritona reached out a claw-like hand and grabbed his neck, slamming him to the ground with a loud _thump_. This action was clearly all it took for the ailing man to lose consciousness, the assault on his vulnerabilities too much to handle.

Selphine breathed a sigh of relief behind Ritona, undoubtedly glad the conflict was coming to a close. There appeared to be no causalities among the ragtag group that attacked them, and even fewer within their own trio-- just minor scrapes and bruises on Ritona's end.

(If Rune were not an automaton, maybe she would have had a few scrapes and bruises as well, but her body was too sturdy to earn those in this kind of situation.)

"It looks like it's finally over..." Selphine mused, a tired expression settling onto her face now that the ordeal's adrenaline was wearing off.

Watching as the stragglers hauled their leader over their shoulders and retreated, Ritona reversed the kravte for her transidian sword; this caused it to promptly fade into obscurity.

"Seems so. I wonder why such an inept group of soldiers would try to ambush us, though... I suppose we'll have to scout for information in the next town to attempt to make more sense of this strange encounter."

Selphine and Rune both nodded in agreement at Ritona's proposition, preparing to hit the road again for the next locale.

While they were gathering their scattered belongings and going over their plan, Rune couldn't resist sneaking a surreptitious glance in Ritona's direction once more. Her cheeks burned slightly at the view she saw, sweat glistening on Ritona's face from the physical exertion of the altercation. Purple hair framed her face as it always had, but it was somewhat more tousled and unruly now.

Rune had definitely thought that she had looked uncannily beautiful on more than one occasion, but this sight was simply something else. Maybe Rudo was right awhile back when he jokingly said her vocabulary manabanks were malfunctioning, because she couldn't find it in her to correctly describe how she was feeling now. She knew she was utterly speechless at Ritona's allure, but exactly what was this curious airy feeling spreading throughout her being...?

Breath hitching a bit as Ritona's deep magenta eyes landed on her, there was only one way she could think of as her eyes peered inquisitively into her own:

_You make me feel invincible._

Eyes quickly darting away as if scalded from that one passing remark within her head, Rune could just sense Selphine and Ritona staring at her questioningly.

_Geez, why did she have to go and make herself look weird right at this precise moment!?_

"Are you alright, Rune? You're acting a tad... peculiar."

Flailing her hands about frantically in response to Ritona's much-dreaded question, Rune laughed awkwardly in an attempt to divert attention from her embarrassing slip-up,

"O-Of course I'm totally fine~! There's no need to worry about me, Ritona! It's not like I was invading your privacy or something atrocious like that!"

...Which inevitably led to yet another slip-up.

Resisting the urge to pummel herself multiple times in the face, Rune screamed internally as she imagined what kind of mortified look must be on her face right now. So much for not blowing her already flimsy cover.

Miraculously, all she received in reply to her blunder was a rather confused Ritona and a suspiciously keen Selphine peeking around her arm. The latter was significantly more alarming, however.

"I'm not really sure why you would be "invading my privacy," but I can assure you that there's nothing you've done during our travels to elicit that feeling from me. Quite the opposite, really. I've felt nothing but comfortable around you, and I'm sure Selphine can attest to that claim as well."

Nudging Selphine a little, she perked up accordingly in response,

"Yes, that's right, Rune~! I appreciate your presence on our journey quite a bit! But I think Ritona may feel that way about you even more than I do. Isn't that right, Ritona?"

Rune might have imagined it in her hopeful mind, but she thought she noticed a dusting of rouge appear on Ritona's cheeks for a few fleeting seconds.

_There's no way though, right? Must have just been a trick of the light or something._

"Please, Selphine. You know how much I hate being put on the spot like that. But what she's saying is true, we greatly appreciate you being here with us. It's been an immense blessing on this treacherous journey, and I don't believe we would be in the same place if you weren't accompanying us back to Rughzenhaide."

Meeting Rune's eyes straight-on, she smiled gently at her, genuinely pouring all her emotions into her closing statement,

"Thank you, Rune."

Selphine grinned knowingly at Ritona's mini-speech, teasingly throwing in a little banter to the mix,

"My, Ritona~! Aren't we just the honest one today! I commend you, my regal and dashing Royal Guardian!"

Hastily pulling Selphine into a headlock, Ritona looped her arms around and pulled at Selphine's cheeks as if they were made of pliable putty, almost stretching to comedic lengths.

"Alright, alright. That's quite enough out of you for today, Selphine."

Rune giggled at the humorous display before her, secretly relieved that her slip-up didn't gain that much traction. Plus, the way Ritona had been so straightforward about how much she appreciated her made her feel incredibly giddy.

_"Thank you, Rune."_

That simple sentence repeated itself in her mind over and over, triggering the reappearance of that perplexing airy feeling fluttering throughout her body. The only way she could explain it was the feeling she experienced when she reconciled with Rudo, except it was different in a very fundamental way. It was almost like returning home after a long departure, and being met with the warm embrace of someone important to you. It was almost like absorbing the body heat from their embrace, and feeling completely and utterly safe.

It was almost like... like--

Looking up at Ritona extricating herself from Selphine, she felt herself unable to take her eyes off her again, as if she was tugged into Ritona's own personal orbit. All she could feel from her-- for her-- at this very moment in time was...

Love.

That was it... That was the answer she was searching so desperately for! How could she have been such a bumbling idiot!?

Being forcefully dragged out of her unilateral revelation, Ritona reached out a hand to her, gesturing for her to take it as Selphine lurked behind her, a concerning smug smile playing on her lips.

"It's time for us to get going, Rune. I think we've done enough dillydallying around these parts for one day, and we need to arrive in town before nightfall."

Selphine mischievously slunk around Ritona's back, tiptoeing over to Rune and grasping her wrist rather firmly. She then forcibly put Rune's hand in Ritona's, causing her fingers to wrap around Ritona's hand on reflex.

"Wha-- I mean, y-yes! Let's get going immediately, then! We wouldn't want to lag behind and have to camp out in the wilderness now, would we? Ahahaha..."

Ritona shot a stern look at Selphine for thrusting this upon them both, but she then resigned to Selphine's sly plans and reciprocated the hand-holding.

Clearing her throat with a tinge of rouge beginning to creep onto her cheeks once again, she turned her head to acknowledge the pair and asked,

"Shall we get going, then?"

Merrily skipping back around next to Ritona's side, Selphine shouted with glee,

"Yes~!"

Figuring that she might as well join in on the jovial mood, Rune shouted in kind,

"Yes~! Let's set off!"

The three of them then embarked down the rugged path before them, one that would indubitably continue to have many hardships ahead. Rune did know that two things were set in stone, however:

She would always have love, and she would never be alone.


End file.
